On this day in 1994, Sony released the PlayStation 1 in Japan. It was the company’s first solo foray into video games (after a failed collaboration between themselves and Nintendo).
The PlayStation 1 featured a R3000 CPU, 16-bit sound chip, 3 MB of memory (2 MB main and 1 MB for video), and a variety of models in that classic grey. We’d later get a smaller, whiter version called the PS One which added an element of portability in that you could use it in your car thanks to a car cigarette lighter adaptor and a LCD screen attachment. It did what Sega and Nintendo and many others couldn’t and blew the console wars to smithereens.
I didn’t get a PlayStation 1 until 2002, two years after the PS2 had been released, but I loved it all the same. Before then, my only experience with it was playing FIFA 2000 at my friend’s house on a Saturday afternoon. Now, I could do it in my own home. I also had Music 2000 and Rainbow Six and loved those games too. It had a certain coolness to it that the Nintendo 64 didn’t possess and there was no chance of me getting a Sega Saturn or a Dreamcast at that time so PS1 won out for a while.
PS1 articles and videos
As with my other birthday posts, I’ll list some other retrospectives and birthday celebrations as well as some cool PS1 videos and articles for you to enjoy.
- 30 Years Ago Today, PlayStation Changed Video Games Forever
- PlayStation Retrospective Extravaganza
- Is the PlayStation 1 the Greatest Console Ever?
- Austin Evans bought EVERY PlayStation 1
- The Complete History of the Sony PlayStation
- PlayStation 30th Anniversary page from Sony
- The Sony PlayStation at 30 – and six of the best PS1 games to try
- Did you know that…? 30 curiosities of PS1 for the 30th anniversary of PlayStation
- The 10 PS1 games that mattered the most
- PlayStation at 30: The betrayal and revenge story of the PS1
- Sony Starts a Division To Sell Game Machines [archived from 1994]
- PlayStation advert: Mental Wealth
- PlayStation advert: S.A.P.S
- PS1 Japanese commercial from the late 90s
